Ten-man Bala Town end wait for Nathaniel MG Cup win as Connah’s Quay pay the penalty
Chris Venables of Bala Town lifts the Nathaniel MG Cup. Bala Town v Connah’s Quay Nomads in the Nathaniel MG Cup Final at The Rock on the 28th January 2023. Photo courtesy of Lewis Mitchell
Bala Town were crowned Nathaniel MG Cup champions for the first time in their history after defeating reigning champions Connah’s Quay on penalties.
In a game that offered everything other than goals, it was Bala who came out on top in a great advert for the Cymru Leagues.
The first half gave everything you could have asked for in a cup final. George Newell opened the action when his effort cannoned off the face of the post.
After a decent spell of possession from the Nomads, they had a penalty shout waved away by referee Bryn Markham-Jones.
The majority of first half chances fell to Nomads’ striker Jack Kenny. Shortly after his close range header failed to meet the target, he found himself through on goal. However, a great recovery from Naim Arsan was enough to put the centre forward off.
The biggest talking point of the match came courtesy of a Lassana Mendes moment of madness as he was shown red for throwing the ball at a fan.
Bala goalkeeper Alex Ramsey showed a sign of things to come when he made a point blank save from Nomads’ target man Michael Wilde.
The second half was always going to struggle to match the pace and intensity of the first. Connah’s Quay failed to capitalise on their man advantage as the Bala defence stood firm despite some dangerous attacking play from the Nomads’ fresh legs.
Both sides finished the game with ten men as the Nomad’s captain received a red card late on for his dangerous challenge on former Cymru international David Edwards.
In the end, a penalty shootout was the only way to split the two sides having both played out an instant-classic cup final.
Despite David Edwards’ missed effort, Bala were crowned champions as Alex Ramsay capped off his stellar performance with a sudden death save to deny Michael Wilde.
Bala Town FC: Alex Ramsay, Nathan Peate, Lassana Mendes, Luke Wall (Adam Roscrow), Chris Venables, Kieran Smith, Antony Kay, David Edwards, Oliver Southern, George Newell (Paul Rutherford), Naim Arsan
Manager: Colin Caton
Yellow cards: Alex Ramsay, Chris Venables
Red card(s): Lassana Mendes
Connah’s Quay Nomads: Andy Firth, John Disney, Ryan Harrington, George Horan, Callum Morris, Michael Wilde, Danny Holmes (Aron Williams, Luca Hogan), Ben Nash, Jack Kenny (Joe Malkin), Aeron Edwards (Harry Franklin), Josh Williams
Manager: Neil Gibson
Red Card(s): George Horan
Referee: Bryn Markham-Jones
Assistant referees: Jordan Christopher, Connor Thomas
Fourth official: David Morgan
